When I’m open to synchronicities, I find them. And often that’s when inspiration arrives.
Lately, seeds have been on my mind. This weekend I’ve been watching cracked open milkweed pods and marveling as their wispy contents taking flight in the backyard.
I’m also currently reading a novel for book club, The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson, that centers on generations of a Dakota family trying to hold onto their way of life. Seeds are a strong theme as they struggle to preserve their traditional ways.
If you’ve been reading my writing for a time, you know that I’m drawn to nature and nature metaphors.
This morning’s message on the Storyteller app by artist Morgan Harper Nichols was: “Dear Mary: Keep sowing good seeds and keep watering them.”
I’ve also been thinking of seeds in terms of preparing and planting ideas. Sometimes I wonder why I write this newsletter. Few people read it. As with blogs, a Substack newsletter will only have wide readership if the writer already has a large following. Or in the very rare event that a post is shared on social media and goes viral. Neither of those are true for me. And yet I’m committed to the practice for now. It’s a way of planting seeds, I suppose.
In another bit of synchronicity (in my mind anyway), my husband and I watched the movie Nyad this weekend. It’s a biopic about Diana Nyad, who swam from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida at the age of 64. She first attempted that route, and failed, at the age of 28. There’s some controversy around the swim, and so it hasn’t been ratified as official. Regardless, it’s a very inspirational film.
In the movie, Diana and her friend Bonnie trade barbs about the often-quoted line “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” from the poem The Summer Day by Mary Oliver. There’s also a scene in the movie where Diana says, “Just because we’re on a a one-way street hurtling toward death doesn’t mean we have to succumb to mediocrity. I mean, you turn sixty, and the world decides that you’re a bag of bones.” Bonnie responds: “I’m fifty-eight, so I wouldn’t know.” Humor aside, in the Western world at least, society tends to worship youth. That’s what makes Nyad’s story so interesting.
I’m not interested in swimming from Havana to Cuba and would guess that you aren’t either. We all have dreams or aspirations, though, and can find inspiration in seeing people of all ages reach milestones and goals.
I saved this calendar page, because I love the message so much. (For inspiration, follow Dani DiPirro on IG https://www.instagram.com/positivelypresent/.)
What’s right path anyway? There are many, and we likely have tried more than few. Try and fail. Or try, and decide that’s not right for me. When we’re older, we have a better sense of what paths are not for us and where we want to go.
I know that I want to keep on my path as a writer, sharing my writing with others and publishing more of my work. Here and elsewhere.
I hope you consider your path(s) too. I hope you find some inspiration here for the journey ahead.
As always, thanks for reading my words.
Gratefully,
Mary
Life is a long and winding path with detours and dead ends. How boring if it were straight but also how frustrating that it isn't!
I look forward to your newsletter every Sunday night/Monday morning. I am repeatedly impressed by your ability to pay attention to and articulate meaning in things I might easily take for granted. Your writing is thought-provoking, and I find myself relaxing in the presence of your commentary. The photos are always great too--last week's were some of my favorites--love the colors and the juxtaposition of the snow on the pumpkins and plants!